Old Dominion Sailing Set to Host ICSA Championships

May 16, 2018
By ODU Athletics

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University is set to host the 2018 Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Championships beginning on May 22. The Women’s event begins on May 22 and will last for four days immediately followed by the Team Race championship on May 26, lasting for three days and the Coed championship on May 29, lasting for four days.

Racing is scheduled to begin for the Sperry Women’s Championship on Tuesday, May 22 at 10 a.m. The sailors will sail LaserPerformance Club Flying Juniors (FJs) and LaserPerformance Z420s, on the waters of the Elizabeth River.

The first two days of racing will be the Semifinals, which is divided into two 18-team regattas. These teams have qualified from their conferences to compete in this portion of the championship. The top nine teams from each group will then advance to the Finals Round – an 18-boat regatta, which will take place on the last two days of the championship, May 24-25. This is the third time that the Women’s Semifinal event will include 36 boats, in the past there have only been 28 competing in this portion of the Championship.

The first round of racing is a single round robin with all 16 teams competing against each other. The top eight from this round will advance to a single “championship” round robin followed by a “final four” round robin, which will only be sailed in Z420s. The top three teams and national champions will be determined from the final four. The Gill Championship will begin after the LaserPerformance Team Race Championship on Tuesday, May 29 at 10 a.m. Sailors will again compete in FJs and Z420s on the Elizabeth River as close to the sailing center as the tide will allow. Similar to the Sperry Women’s championship, the first two days of racing will be a Semifinal regatta, which will include 36 of the top teams in the country that qualified from their respective conferences to compete. This Semifinal event is divided into two 18-team rounds. The top nine teams in each Semifinal round will advance to the Finals round, an 18-boat regatta on the last two days of the championship, May 31 and June 1. This will determine the top three podium spots and name the national champion.

The events will kick off with the Intercollegiate Sailing Association Annual Meeting, held on Monday, May 21 at Old Dominion at 11:30 a.m. where the ICSA Hall of Fame Honorees will be officially announced.